


sky hangs

by nextyear



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Other, Season: COUNTER/Weight, an animal out of context was just a sad road trip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-07 03:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16400672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nextyear/pseuds/nextyear
Summary: a conversation between cass and mako on the way to september





	sky hangs

"Are we there yet?"

 

"How would I know?" Cass said, not looking up from the stove. "Ask AuDy."

 

"AuDy’s ignoring me," Mako said.

 

"Then go bug Aria. Or Orth."

 

"Aria's with her _girlfriend_ ," Mako complained, pulling himself onto the kitchen counter. "And Orth keeps making me do dumb chores that don't make sense."

 

"You're sitting on my cutting board."

 

Mako handed them the cutting board. Cass sighed, put the cutting board in the sink, and got a new one.

 

"By process of elimination, you're the only person on this ship that I can talk to," Mako continued. "Whatcha cookin'?"

 

"Pasta."

 

"You made pasta last week."

 

"I'm aware."

 

"Don't you know how to make anything else?"

 

"You're one to talk," Cass said with a huff. "You can barely microwave a pack of instant noodles by yourself."

 

"Fair enough." Mako said. He reached over to steal one of the cherry tomatoes Cass was chopping, but they swatted his hand away.

 

"Cass," Mako pouted. "I'm hungry."

 

"You can have some when I'm done."

 

"I'm hungry now."

 

"Then go get yourself a snack."

 

Mako made a face, then hopped off the counter to grab a fruit cup from the fridge.

 

"Hey, Cass."

 

"Hmm?"

 

"Are we there yet?"

 

"Yes, Mako. We're on September. You can get off the ship now."

 

"I have to finish my fruit cup first." Mako rested his chin on Cass’s shoulder. "You making edibles?"

 

"It's dried oregano."

 

"So you're not making weed pasta?"

 

"No, Mako. I am not making 'weed pasta.'"

 

"What about _pot_ -sta?"

 

"I swear to Apole, Mako-"

 

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry," Mako interjected. "No more weed puns. For now. Hey, do you smoke seaweed on Apostolos?"

 

"No."

 

"But could you?"

 

"I don't know, and I don't care." Cass shoved a spoon into Mako's hand. "Hold this for a second."

 

"Can I lick it?"

 

"No."

 

"Are you almost done?"

 

"No."

 

"When will you be done?"

 

"Fifteen, twenty minutes," Cass guessed. They grabbed the spoon from Mako. "Longer if you keep asking questions."

 

"What am I supposed to do, then?"

 

"I don't know. Go find a way to entertain yourself."

 

"That's what I'm doing." Mako poked Cass's arm. "I'm watching you."

 

Cass gently pushed Mako's hand away. “And that’s entertaining to you?”

 

"There's not a lot to do up here," Mako said, hoisting himself back up onto the counter. "I just don't wanna get bored. I hate being bored."

 

Cass paused, staring at the pot they were stirring.

 

"I think it might be the worst thing, y'know?"

 

Cass nodded.

 

"That's why I left, I think," Mako said after a few moments. "I was so bored."

 

Cass put down their spoon and turned to face Mako. "Yeah?"

 

"Yeah. I mean, it wasn't bad or anything. It was just the same thing, over and over."

 

Cass gave a small nod.

 

"I wonder sometimes, though. What it would be like if I'd stayed."

 

Cass let the silence hang in the air for a long moment, then, against their better instincts, spoke. "So do I.”

 

"Do you wish you had?"

 

”I didn’t exactly have a choice.”

 

”But if you did.”

 

"If I could have gone back… I would have," Cass said. "But now, looking back, I don't regret it. I miss home, and I miss my family, but I don't regret it."

 

"What was it like?"

 

"Apostolos?"

 

"No. Your family."

 

"Oh." Cass tugged at the hem of their shirt. "I didn't see my parents much. Especially the Apokine. But I had my siblings. We grew up together."

 

“It sounds good.”

 

Cass hesitated. “It was.”

 

"Have you seen them since…"

 

"Only at the funeral." Cass turned back to the stove. "And even then, we didn't speak."

 

Cass poked at the noodles with a spoon. "It's strange. Knowing what I know now."

 

"About the war?"

 

Cass stared into the pot. He knew that wasn’t what they meant. He knew better than anyone else. But he was giving them an out, and they wanted badly to take it.

 

Cass looked up at him. "About Sokrates," they said.

 

Mako looked just as surprised by the honest answer as Cass themself. Cass tried to remember ever seeing Sokrates look like that, but came up blank. Nothing in Mako’s demeanor, at least not right now, betrayed any reason he might be able to understand them when Cass wasn’t allowed to.

 

They wanted to ask him, to try to make sense of it, but their better judgement finally won out, and they looked back down at the stove.

 

Mako was uncharacteristically quiet for a few moments. Cass added the tomatoes to the pot, nearly holding their breath to preserve the silence.

 

"Are you almost done?" Mako asked, laying a hand on Cass’s shoulder.

 

Despite themself, Cass began to breathe again. "Soon."

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me about counter/weight on twitter! (@trestletables)


End file.
